Big W's Econo 66

AWESOME!!! Does your van have ANY rust? That's a rarity up here, looks sooo clean!!!

YOU out of= BATH WATER?? WHAT A SIGHT!! Thats GOT to be an =Econo

roflmao...John the farmer just came in from the field. He put in an honest 13 hour day. His started at 6 with the cows then it was off to start haying. I thought it was the least I could do was let him sit in it. But yea he had at least 10 lbs of dirt and grease on him..lol

Got the hoist set up. time to pull the 240



...Well that didn't take long...lol. Motor was out in less then 10 minits. But then again preperation is everything.

OOOOOOPS my bad.....note to self and to anyone pulling motors with tranny attached...plug speedo cable hole with rag...lol. I knew I was forgetting something.

..Oh well clean it up later, though down some all natural mother nature floor dry,sweep int a pile.... Bring in the next contestant...

I will post mor pics as they develope....Now the real fun begins. I can't remember how we got that in there...lol.

Well Big W - sure are lookin better today -than in that last foto yesterday !!

That the donor? I can't remember you saying you had two!

yup that's the donor, and I have 3 vans...the 3rd is 67 supervan. No suspension and hit realy hard on passenger front corner. It's a shed.

Well the removal of the 350 went kinda smooth....lol....untill a friend of the neighbors decided to help when I wasn't looking and he crabbed the tail end of the transmission and swung it out the door and the front chain jumped right out of the hook. Bent the safety clasp all to hell and the motor ended up nose down in the hole. JUSTAFIABLE HOMICIDE I think so. Anyway, I was able to get the motor back on it's mounts and pushed down on the trans and leveled it out and hooked the chain back up and escorted this guy out of the shop and explained what would happen if he came back in. sorry no pics of the carnage, that was kinda the last thing on my mind at that point. But here she is on th hook and ready to go into the '66. Also homemade motor mounts and cross member and tranny mount also. The motor mounts are deisghned after '57 chevy flat top mounts.

Motor mount is in, time for some motor action. Working by myself today so it should be a great day without any unwanted helpers. slow and steady wins the race. Man I think I am getting to old for this sh*t...

Sorry, almost forgot the Tranny mount...

Looking awesome, how are those little buggers in your area? Here it's about a 2 to 1 ratio, 2 cans of OFF to 1 can of WD-40.

I like the pic of you in the engine bay......Fred Flinstone Van. lol

Us Northern folk should plan a get together next summer? Keep up the great work and stay hydrated.

Awesome! Great shots of your motor and tranny mounts! Here's to continued progress. Cheers!

Mosquitoes...lol...my neighbor calls them gators, and holy harra there's a few. BUT all is not lost...HAVE KONK , WILL TRAVEL. spray the shop and anything that was flying is doing donuts on the floor after 5 minits. tonight was bad..forgot to close overhead door. Had to fight off vampire moths with my trouble light......ya not a wise idea when it's still on..lmao.

What a great day, as I new it would be. Me, myself ,and I ....Removed the tar seal under dog house, cut up the floor for wider Dog house, installed tranny mount, removed external oil cooler of 350, blew the dust off said motor, installed the engine and tranny, ....cut off some more floor...lol...installed throttle bracket and alternator bracket....now if I can only remember where I put the alternator. HAHAHA I no where it is, silly me....IT'S ON THE COMBINE...DOA!!!!.Guess I get to buy a new one....sweeeeeet. 180 amp outta do it. Not a lot of pics though...It's hard to remember when your knee deep in it. I will post pics in the morning....to tired ...and I can hear my pillow calling me.

Here are a few pics.......Seal removed

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Nice pics & work- I didnt see any real auto tools in the fotos=?? I did see a HAMMER!!- Guess you have a Masters graduation certificate in Auto Repair?
HeHe - Happy Vannin - good job!! Guess for 1st drive youll invite that neighbor over?

Hey Big W, love it small block chevy in a ford "built ford tuff with chevy stuff" I love it when people think out of the box. I've buit a few, 327 chevy in a 4wd 76 ford truck, 400 pontiac in 72 dodge 4wd( great truck) 231 buicks in jeeps and toyotas, 4.3 toyota pickups. I guess i get it form my old man he has a 71 dodge van running 300 buick. My buddies for awhile where threatining to take my tools away Bob

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. It's going relatively smooth so far with only the use of a socket set, few wrenches and a cut off wheel on the angle grinder and the HAMMER, and not all being used in that order...lol.
..So it looks like I will have to use my new single master cylinder until I can get that dual rebuilt. But it should be ok as all shoes, wheel cyl, springs, and break lines and hoses are brand new. And of course there still is an E-break on it just incase I need to pull the RIP cord and bail out. Will have pics of this fix later on, as I hope to be bleeding them tonight. Radiator should be here on Friday, and picked up rad cooler and fan assembly today as well,might even have that in tonight as well. Wow 3:45 I better get craking if I'm to get this all in.....Later fellow Vanners

Removed old master cylinder and installed new one. Old one actually started to work once I took it apart and cleaned all the rust out of it. The plunger looked really good....buy we won't use it.
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...Here is the new one with part #
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..used the boot and spring bracket from the dual. Also found that the spring bracket is offset and moves the spring away from shifting arms..sweet.

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..wasn't able to bleed brakes but it's filled with fluid and ready to go. Also made the lines for tranny cooler and that's as far as I good get. Tomorrow's another day...

New transmission cooler and all the hardware you can handle. Made for more then one application I would assume.
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...Now if anyone knows what vehicle to get an electric fan to fit 11" X 11" cooler that would make my life easier?

HEY!! Great Idea= Lets get all our products down here printed in french!! That way all the illegals =couldnt read anything & would go back home!! I like it!!
what about the lincoln electric fans - many guys here are using those!!

Thanks twinpilot, I will check on line for what year has a fan that might fit

Did up the wipers while waiting to bleed breaks. Used donors from 16" metal wipers and they fit right in the 66 arms.
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..Also changed the E-Brake pulley. Used one from a 2" swivel pulley. Drilled out the rivet and then drilled the hole to match the 66 pin and then basically beat it with a hammer to resemble the original. Once it was to the right width I then ground down the OD of the pulley to the same size as the original.
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Made up a throttle linkage so I could keep the ford cable that was on the van. I no it looks a little barbaric but it works great.
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